2009 Trader Joe’s Vinas Chilenas Cabernet Sauvignon $4

I think I’m getting addicted to these Trader Joe’s cheapie wines, every couple of weeks I have to try another one. I can’t pass up a new wine on display by the entrance door. The cheap wines are not always to my liking, but at 5 bucks and under, I can’t get to worked up about so-so wine. The good thing about Vinas Chilenas  is that cheap wine from Chile tends to be better quality than cheap wine from just about any other place, so Vinas Chilenas may bring more to the table than Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw wines can. This Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the Central Valley in Chile. Like most other Trader Joe’s exclusive wines there is almost no other information available. Alcohol content is 13.5%

The color is crystal clear dark plum red. The nose is on the simple side, some red fruit, a little chocolate and a grassy aroma. Some strawberry, a little plum, dark chocolate and then a slight bite in the back of your mouth from the tannins. The finish is dark chocolate and berry and disappears in a hurry.

A very drinkable Cabernet, not exciting by any means, but far better than it needs to be for the price. The Vinas Chilenas Cabernet Sauvignon would do just fine with pizza and burgers and a bottle of this stuff will cost you less than either the burger or the pizza.

2010 Trader Joe’s Vinas Chilenas Sauvignon Blanc Reserva

A Trader Joe’s exclusive $4 wine from the Central Valley in Chile. Sometimes these cheap Trader Joe’s wines can be pretty shaky, but Chile is the perfect place to source inexpensive wines. The land cost is low, the labor costs are less than most places, but the growing conditions and the winemakers are first class. Plus, white wine is comparatively easier and cheaper to produce than red wine. Alcohol content is 12%.

Fun Fact: In Chile, the term Reserva indicates a Higher Quality, it legally means the wine has “distinctive organoleptic qualities”.  Organoleptic means pertaining to the sensory qualities of food and wine, such as taste, smell and color.

The color is pale straw yellow. It has that fresh Sauvignon Blanc nose, bright fresh tropical fruit, pineapple, grapefruit, lime and a bit of minerality. It tastes of grapefruit and very tart pink lemonade, it softens in the mid-palate with navel orange and slate dust. There is a good dose of acidity, the Vinas Chilenas would really work as a food wine. A nice orange and pink lemonade finish, it fades a bit early, but tastes good.

A pretty good 4 buck wine. The Vinas Chilenas will work well with spicy Asian food, or chilled it would make a great summer cooler.

Santa Rita Reserva Carménère 2007 & Pehuén – Carménère 2005

The House of Santa Rita

by Charlotta April 2010

Chilean wines are truly a treat, which more and more people outside of the Chilean boarders are discovering. The hidden treasures of Chile are not only its wines, but also its food, culture, history and tradition, its geography and its soil. And as we all know, these are corner stones of wine-making.

One of the true jewels of Chilean wine making is the remarkable variety Carménere. Previously hidden, or rather forgotten, among the other grape varietals (merlot) in 1994 Professor Jean-Michel Boursiquot from the Montpellier’s school of Oenology in France “discovered” or rather re-discovered the Carménere. He confirmed that an earlier-ripening vine was Bordeaux Carménère, not Merlot as previously believed. In 1998 The Chilean Department of Agriculture officially recognized Carménère as a distinct variety. Today, Carménère grows chiefly in the Colchagua Valley, Rapel Valley, and Maipo Province.

The house of Santa Rita offers a nice selection and spread of types and price range for all. Two of my favorites are:

The Santa Rita Reserva Carménère 2007, 100% Carménere, with its intense ruby-red color and bouquet of dark velvety chocolates, hints of vanilla and ripe fruit lends its self to one of these wines you should always have at home. Just in case. It is medium bodied and as such works with foods, for example red meats, a grilled Gruyere cheese sandwich and salad, or a ripe camembert with dried fruits as well as by its self. Chilled it is an alternative to heavier Pinot Noir and room tempered to a lighter Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are grown in the Rapel Valley, (see map below) where winters are mostly rainy with no no spring frosts and the grapes are nourished to its maturity during the warm summers.

The Santa Rita Reserva Carménère retails for about $11-$15 dollar.

Pehuén – Carménère 2005 has that perfect blend of 85% Carménère and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, where the grapes are 85% from the Apalta region and 15% from the Maipo Valley. This wine is something else. It is intense. It is deep. It has integrity and softness. Its complexity and elegance provide presence and yet allows for a dreamlike stage. Dark and rich in its carmine color the wine fills its glass as much as your palette. This is a wine to enjoy, be sure anything you have with it upholds the same level of quality. If you split it with two others you are just spending about 20 dollars plus… but the two-three glasses you get are a true find of pure enjoyment!

The Pehuén – Carménère 2005 retails for about $60 dollar.

Update: Chilean Earthquake Vineyard Damage

Chile’s wine industry hurting from big quake

By BRAD HAYNES
Associated Press

MOLINA, Chile — When Chile’s worst earthquake in 50 years hit, Alvaro Galan bolted out of bed and ran, still in pajamas, to his winery next door.

In the 4 a.m. darkness of the echoing warehouse, rocking and groaning from aftershocks, he waded through a scene from a sinking submarine: Streams of liquid sprayed from cracked tanks that teetered and slammed against each other, and the cement floor ran red with cabernet.

Galan worked desperately to siphon the wine into undamaged tanks, but by dawn he had lost 30,000 gallons — plus the pajamas off his back, wrapped like a tourniquet around a broken spigot.

“If one of the hatches had blown,” he said, “it would have come flying off with the pressure and taken me with it.”

Across Chile’s vaunted wine-growing region, vintners scrambled in the first crucial hours after the Feb. 27 quake to save their livelihoods. Three weeks later, a desperate struggle continues as farmers brace fallen vines and race to bring in the current harvest.

An early estimate put the total initial loss at 33 million gallons worth $250 million, or 13 percent of Chile’s annual production.

Consumers probably won’t notice a price increase, given the size of the world market. But as officials size up the cost of reduced capacity for the world’s fifth-largest wine exporter, many producers are facing a harsh new economic landscape that may put them out of business and deliver a second, cruel blow to families coping with lost homes and loved ones.

Francois Waleski, an export manager at the Valdivieso winery, said the industry has been challenged recently by a weak U.S. dollar after decades of strong growth.

“Everybody is struggling to keep up with the harvest,” Waleski said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some wineries don’t make it.”

Larger winemaking operations, supplying most Chilean vintages sold on shelves from London to Los Angeles, are in position to collect insurance, repair infrastructure and ride out a rocky year.

But smaller producers, some of them uninsured and already straining under debt, may have to scrape by on reduced production or be forced out of the market altogether — meaning fewer Chilean labels for wine enthusiasts around the world.

“For me, with one cellar, the cost of earthquake insurance would kill me,” said Galan, who single-handedly saved his Vina Galan and must dip into savings to restore the facility.

At Lomas de Cauquenes, the last of Chile’s wine-exporting cooperatives, managers are wondering whether their label will survive. Twenty similar outfits have folded since the 1960s in the face of competition from bigger players.

The winery was formed by grape farmers after Chile’s deadly 1939 earthquake, promising its members stable prices and monthly payments. But for the cooperative’s 250 small growers in need of immediate relief, cash offers from thirsty big exporters may prove too tempting to pass up.

“We’re all facing the same situation,” field manager Luis Mendoza said. “It’s a desperate decision — do I save myself, or do I save the cooperative?”

Mendoza said the demand for grapes from Chile’s large-scale producers is stronger this year as they rush to replace lost volume, pushing up costs across the industry. Major wineries declined to comment.

The Cauquenes cooperative pumps about $5.5 million annually into the economy of the small provincial capital, 30 miles from the epicenter of last month’s quake.

The money is a lifeline to members reeling from the quake.

Claudio Torres, a 71-year-old co-op member, lives alongside the ruins of his house, yet this week he and his sons will be harvesting their only crop instead of rebuilding.

“I’ll need a house for the winter,” Torres said. “But we need the harvest to survive the year. And grapes rot.”

At Valdivieso, workers are sorting through the heap of barrels that piled up when their racks toppled like dominoes. Ceiling tiles dangle overhead, and the entire cellar leans toward a single bolstered wall.

“We’ve become a hard-hat winery,” chief winemaker Brett Jackson said, tapping his helmet. Dried wine spattered the brim — drops of the 18,000 gallons that were lost the night of the quake. The losses were just a fraction of the winery’s annual output of 3 million gallons and were covered by insurance.

Others weren’t so lucky.

Down the street, more than 500,000 gallons of bulk wine spilled out of one storage facility and flooded a neighboring vineyard, killing off rows of plants and filling the air with a vinegar smell.

Near the winemaking mecca of Santa Cruz, Hugo Urzua’s vines are alive but flattened. Forty men have been working constantly since the quake to harvest and prop up 60 acres of fallen arbors. Each passing day increases the risk of rot, but the team is struggling to push on with aching backs — none of them has picked grapes off the ground before.

“I would rather have a collapsed house than a fallen arbor,” said Urzua. “But now there’s nothing I can do but pick it up.”

Taken from AP

2005 Erasmo Vina La Reserva de Caliboro

Estate grown and bottled in the Maule Valley Region of Chile (The Maule Valley is near the epicenter of the recent earthquake). A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 30% Merlot, this is the classic blend of the French Bordeaux grapes, but grown in Chile, under the direction of Francesco Marone Cinzano, a top Italian producer. Aged 18 months in French Oak barriques (barrels to you and me), the Erasmo has aging potential and should continue to improve for several years. The grapevines  were imported to Chile from France especially for this project.

The color is black cherry with a light red halo. Loads of spice on the nose, dark ripe fruit, dusty autumn leaves and whiffs of oak. A light mouth feel, but big on flavor. The first taste to hit your tongue is ripe blackberries, blueberries and silky french vanilla, and then you feel/sense the tannins at the back of your mouth. A huge, long lasting finish of cherries, tea and butterscotch. Still a young wine, with a nice firm structure. This is a wine that you want to buy several bottles of, drink one now, another in a couple of years, and another in a few more years. The tannins will soften and the level of flavors will become more complex with the passage of time. The Erasmo has a classy sophisticated flavor now and will pair well with steaks and chops.

Wine Courtesy of Palm Bay Imports

Update: Earthquake Damage to Chile’s Wine Industry

Earthquake a major blow to Chile’s wine industry

Chilean wineries were hard-hit by the earthquake. The industry is trying to assess the damage.

The earthquake caused substantial damage in Chile’s wine region: Stainless steel fermentation tanks tipped over, wine bottles busted and wineries without power.

While it’s still too early to tell the full extent of the damage, early reports indicate that the damage to one of the nation’s major industries will be far-reaching.

The quake’s epicenter hit in the heart of the country’s largest wine production areas causing substantial damage in areas including the Cachapoal, Colchagu, Curicó and Maule valleys. These areas produce the majority of the country’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes.

“We’re talking about tens of millions of liters of wine down the drain,” said Alfredo Bartholomaus, importer Winebow’s brand ambassador for Chilean wines. “It’s going to be devastating. Some of the wineries, everything they had for sale is gone. Fortunately this happened before the harvest season started.”

Most Chilean wineries say they plan to get back in business and move ahead with harvest season either later this week or next.

“At the moment, we don’t see a major impact on the vineyards, so we are maintaining the enthusiasm regarding the quality of the upcoming grapes,” Salvador Domenech, managing director of Santa Rita, said in an e-mail statement. “We particularly trust that American consumers will support the Chilean industry, so our job now is to ensure resuming production as soon as possible.”

Chile in 2009 exported more than 670 million liters of wine, valued at $1.36 billion.

The country’s largest producer, Concha y Toro, whose most popular U.S. brands include Frontera and Xplorador, has temporarily suspended all production operations for at least one week, according to a statement on its website.

Concha y Toro suffered major damage at three of its 11 production facilities in Chile, plus minor damage at some of the others, said Jane Kettlewell, spokeswoman for Banfi Vintners, the U.S. importer for Concha y Toro.

But initial speculation that Concha y Toro had lost 40 million liters of wine in the earthquake is inaccurate, she said.

`It is considerably less, how much less remains to be determined,” Kettlewell said.

“The fact that the company is diversified in terms of wineries means that it can shuttle production around and try to compensate for the facilities that need to be repaired.”

Miguel Torres, a Spanish wine company with holdings in the Curico Valley just north of the Maule, reported no casualties but major damage.

“The losses are significant at the winery: around 300 casks smashed, one stainless steel vat with a capacity of 100,000 liters has been cracked, losing all the wine, thousands of bottles destroyed,” the company said in a statement on its website. “Luckily the main structure of the buildings has withstood the quake.”

At Caliboro Estate in Maule, owner Francesco Marone Cinzano said in an e-mail that “the cellar is standing” and about a dozen barrels have “fallen to the ground from the racks.” But the offices, laboratory and tasting room had “serious damage.”

At least for now, there should be no impact on U.S. wine drinkers, who have increasingly turned to Chilean wines because of their value prices.

“There is plenty still available in the United States and there shouldn’t be a shortage for awhile,” said Gus J. Suess, director of final sales for Southern Wine & Spirits.

“If things aren’t straightened out fast enough, there is going to be a shortage eventually.”

BY ELAINE WALKER

EWALKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/03/1509089/earthquake-a-major-blow-to-wine.html

Chilean Wine Industry Hit Hard By Earthquake

Tragedy struck Chile overnight on Friday in the form of a massive earthquake that has displaced two million people, severed north-south bridges in the narrow country, and killed hundreds of people (see coverage on nytimes.com).

Chile has a large, export-oriented wine industry. Some of infrastructure, particularly in the regions of Maule and Rapel (including Colchagua), has been damaged or destroyed. Contacted via email, Lori Tieszen, executive director of Wines of Chile USA, says that Jose Manuel Ortega reports “devastation” in Maule and that his winery sustained some damage; Julio Bouchon of J. Bouchon, “is safe but his beautiful old winery is leveled,” Tieszen writes. In 2006, the Oxford Companion to Wine described Maule as “slowly changing its reputation of growing only bulk wine.”

“One can smell wine along the roads in front of the wineries. Tanks laying, collapsed buildings, barrels and glass everywhere,” winemaker Sven Bruchfeld told James Molesworth, wine critic for Chilean wine at Wine Spectator magazine.

Molesworth has been tweeting what he hears from wineries (follow his feedfor the latest). Another source told him, “Big damage to the industry. Millions of liters on the floor.” He also tweeted that Montes and Lapostolle were hit hard in Colchagua, an area that had seen lots of investment in the wine indsutry. Feel free to add news in the comments if you have updates.

Depending on the region and grape variety, the harvest has already started or was scheduled to start soon in the country.

http://www.drvino.com/2010/02/28/chilean-earthquake-wines-wineries-damage/

2001 Arboleda Merlot – $15

Talk about an end of the bin special, this is a Chilean Merlot from the Colchagua Valley that has nine years of bottle age. Now most wines in the under $20 category are not made to be cellared for too long, but then again almost all red wines could benefit from a couple of years of age, so how much is too much? This particular Merlot is a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Vina Caliterra of Chile, it has a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon added along with a splash of Carmenere to give the Merlot some body and structure. It has been aged in oak barrels, so there is a good chance this wine is still improving, rather than on the way down. The color is a glistening see thru burgundy. The nose is elegant, spice drops, dark stewed fruit, beef gravy and a dusty flower garden scent. The mouth feel is light upfront with tannins grabbing at the back of your mouth. Not much fruit is evident, I had the bottle open for three hours before I tasted it and I am using my Taste of Purple glass that helps bring air into the wine, so the wine shouldn’t be “tight”. The vanilla from the oak is there, but it is not over powering. There are is prune or fig flavors, but the main component is the vanilla from the oak. I can’t come to any conclusions about cellaring wine because 1) I don’t know under what conditions this was stored and 2) I don’t know what it tasted like when it was young. But, it is an out of balance wine, still drinkable but not all that enjoyable.

2006 Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon – $16

This review is by request and a good request it is. The Santa Rita is rated #57 out of 100 Top Wines of 2009 by Wine Spectator. This Cab is from a single Estate in the Alto Jahuel region of the Maipo Valley in Chile. It is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, the alcohol level is 14.6%.

The color is a deep dark, slightly see thru ruby red, just like a Cabernet Sauvignon should look like. The nose is interesting, Fig Newtons and spice drops and toast with jam. Vanilla from the oak is very prominent on the palate, and then the dark fruit kicks in. Kind of an oily mouth feel, it really has the flavor stick to your mouth. The finish is chocolate cream mints and the finish does go on for awhile. It has a lot of tannins, but not out of balance, you can feel the tannins in the back of your palate, but it is smooth not a jolt. The taste changes as the wine opens up, different levels of tastes, just like the expensive wines. A very nice, serious  wine.

2007 Viña Ventisquero Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon – $10

Unquestionably the best $10 Cabernet Sauvignon from South America that I’ve had in a long time!  The Chilean vineyard’s name Ventisquero is Spanish for “glacier”, which takes its name from the hanging glaciers in the nearby Andes Mountains.

For such an inexpensive wine this Cab is very full bodied with an intense red color.  It has hints of vanilla, oak and sweet cherry.  It is full bodied, but has an elegant, velvety finish of cherry and black currant.  It is delicious! Drink with mature cheeses, grilled meats or Buffalo Wild Wings with Asian Zing.

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